As the wife of a South Bend police officer, I'm very concerned as to why Tribune columnist Nancy Sulok continues to focus on negative stories about our police force. Perhaps because an officer doing something good for the community isn't as newsworthy? And, no, I don't think police are above the law. Anyone who breaks the law should be held accountable, including (perhaps even especially) police officers, as it's their job to uphold the law. But they should be afforded the opportunity to receive fair treatment. Sulok has been making that very difficult with her columns. The vast majority of police are good, hard-working, law-abiding citizens. Unfortunately, the image she has been reinforcing is a negative one. When all we hear on a regular basis is about the "bad cops," how are we supposed to believe there are any "good cops"? Would it be so difficult for her to present a positive image once in awhile? There are more than 250 police officers in South Bend; surely one or two of them are out there doing some good things for our community. Actually, every single one of them is doing something good ... even the ones who sometimes make mistakes. As a longtime voter, I am writing this to say that I do not want the Indiana Toll Road leased, sold or privatized in any way. The state has managed the road for decades, yet now Gov. Mitch Daniels says we are not capable anymore. What happened? When asked about higher fees for out-of-state vehicles, Daniels' counsel said this would probably be unconstitutional. Although I do not endorse this idea, my quick phone call to Potato Creek State Park verifies that a similar policy has been and is currently in effect in our state already. Daniels was elected to represent our public will. To accurately gauge that will, why not put referendums on the ballot? Or would that infringe on the spending of Daniels' political capital? A good leader does for the people, by the people's will. A politician fails the people by failing to truly represent us. Like many people, I was initially uneasy about the potential of a Toll Road lease. The more I think about it, though, the more it makes sense. If we don't do a lease, the only other options to fund road construction are to raise taxes, or to issue bonds (which translates into higher taxes). This will cost taxpayers more money. A Toll Road lease doesn't cost us anything, but instead gets us billions of dollars. I think the preferable choice here is obvious: Consider leasing the Toll Road. If we are unable to divert "Someone's Man Mitch" from selling or leasing Indiana real estate, one or more of the American Indian tribes should be included in the bidding. American Indians could install casinos at all of the Toll Road oases, slot machines adjacent to gas pumps and slots on all restroom doors. Gov. Daniels could help the program by running bingo on Friday nights. Apparently governors can now farm out problems that they can't solve. Would you rather have a Toll Road that loses money long term, and road projects that will never get completed? Or would you rather have a Toll Road that makes us lots of money up front and road projects under construction that will bring us more jobs and more money from businesses that locate along them? I don't know about most people, but I'll go for the latter. After hearing Gov. Mitch Daniels speak on this issue and explain that leasing the Toll Road is the only way to do it, then I say let's give it some serious thought. If there are better ways, I'm sure they will arise. Last year I paid $94 a month for natural gas to Northern Indiana Public Service Co. on the budget plan. In June the company said it had to raise the budget to $121 a month. And in December NIPSCO reviewed my account and raised the budget amount to $180. I keep my thermostat set at 55 degrees and wear layers of clothes and gloves in the house to keep warm. I cook very fast meals so as to use the minimum of gas. I really do not know what else to do. The actual price of the gas I used when they decided to raise my budget was $147 and I had a credit of more than $300 for the year to date. What exactly are the working poor supposed to do? If nothing else, "intelligent design" may cause us to think, which is good in and of itself. Carl Sagan, the guru of macroevolution, states in his book "Cosmos" that "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." One has to stretch to call that a scientific statement. We see here an evolutionist venturing into the world of metaphysics, religion, philosophy and even eschatology under the guise of science. As a further illustration that evolutionists are not scientific purists, let me draw a parallel: God exists for Christians as a "first cause" by faith just as matter exists for the evolutionist as a "first cause" by faith. None of us were there at the beginning. Faith is in the mix for both. Philosophy is the correct discipline for the study of origins in a public school. I have always believed that a large part of education is teaching children to think. There are a number of arguments for the existence of a first cause. We need to expose our children to them, but under the heading of philosophy, not evolutionary science or religion. People want some Olympic events in South Bend as part of the Chicago regional hosting plan just announced? What do they think our chances are if we are not in the same time zone as Chicago? Thanks a lot, Elkhart. You too, Gov. Mitch Daniels. President Bush has a lot of gall when he tells the American people they will have to expect more sacrifice and heartache before the Iraq debacle is over. What exactly has he sacrificed? Has Bush known the heartache of either losing a loved one, or seeing the maimed and ruined lives of those not quite dead? How about all the innocent people in Iraq who have died because of his ill-founded decision to start this war? He had made up his mind to go to war, to fulfill his vendetta against one evil man, regardless of the horrible consequences. Because of Bush's reckless actions, we are not safer. Terrorists have been inspired to do greater harm but, of course, he will not sacrifice or feel heartache while he is either at Camp David or safe in Texas. WRITE TO US